Light-weight efficient current carrying electric bus bars are currently available for carrying large amounts of electric current with low heat loss generation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,804 describes one such busway system wherein the bus bars are insulatively bolted together to promote good thermal transport between the bus bars and the adjoining heat dissipative side plates. This Patent is incorporated herein for reference purposes and should be reviewed for a good description of the state of the art of thermally efficient power busway systems.
When adjoining busway sections are electrically interconnected in the field, an adjustable bus joint is employed. In order to preserve the excellent thermal properties of the insulatively bolted individual busway sections, a bus joint having electrically conductive splice plates and interleaving insulative plates held together by an insulative bolt is also required to reduce the amount of heat generated at the joint.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 193,000 filed May 12, 1988 entitled "Thermally Efficient Splice Joints for Electrical Distribution Busway" and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 194,655 filed May 16, 1988 entitled "Adjustable Joint for Electrical Busway" both describe thermally efficient adjustable bus joints. The aforementioned U.S. patent applications are accordingly incorporated herein for purposes of reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,187,086 discloses a busway joint utilizing a single insulative bolt to interconnect between adjoining busway sections. U.S. Pat. No. 3,104,276 discloses a specific thru-bolt used with an adjustable bus joint. U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,537 discloses a removable bus joint having anti-turn properties. U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,334 describes a busway joint which includes an insulative thru-bolt and further includes a generally square shaped insulating tube to provide insulation between the thru-bolt and adjoining splice plates.
The splice plates described within aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,537, for example, require three additional bolts to position and fasten the joint side plates together. In a high speed automated assembly process, it is difficult to insert and fasten the additional bolts without substantially reducing the overall bus joint manufacturing time.
One purpose of the instant invention is to provide means for automatically spacing the bus joint side plates and fastening the side plates during manufacture without requiring any auxiliary fastening means whatsoever.